AMD has said that by the end of the year the ATI name will be replaced with AMD on all its graphics brands, which include Radeon, FirePro and Eyefinity. However, no changes will be made to any of the company’s product plans.

AMD’s purchase of ATI back in 2006 was initially deemed to be a costly mistake, as in the face of stiff competition and a tough market, by the end of the 2007 it was actually worth less than what it had paid for ATI the year before.

The merger was expected to rapidly produce a combined CPU and GPU on one chip called Fusion, but was repeatedly delayed. However, the combined chip was finally revealed in June, with product expected to arrive by the end of the year.

ATI was established in Ontario, Canada in 1985, and rapidly become synonymous with PC graphics technology. By the late nineties it was the arch rival for Nvidia, which, along with AMD vs. Intel, was one of the giant hardware battles in the PC business. As such, anyone with more than a passing interest in the history of graphics will therefore be shedding a virtual tear at the demise of the name.

For more analysis of the retirement of the ATI brand be sure to check out our in-depth feature.